The Fight for Freedom
by UnofficialBrideOfPeregrinTook
Summary: When the children of the White Witch walk in on a prisoner execution, they realize that Narnia is being oppressed just as badly as they have been. What will happen when they try to join Aslan's forces? Slightly AU. Set just before and during "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe." Rated T for violence. Adventure/Family/Friendship
1. Escape

Chapter 1: Escape

Mother never truly looked after us. She never let us outside so we could play; never bandaged our knees or tucked us in at night. We were prisoners in our own home. We looked after ourselves. And we were sick of it.

My brothers and I had never set a time to make a run for it, but we knew it would have to be soon. Every night I went to sleep wondering if that would be my last night spent in a familiar place. But when my brothers both had a sudden shift in attitude early one morning, I knew that our time was coming.

"Renn!" Rhydian's voice hissed in my ear as he shook me awake. "Get up! Quick!"

"Rhydian, what's going on?" I moaned loudly. "What's—"

"Shush!" Rhydian snapped, clapping his hand over my mouth. "I'll explain later. But now, we've got to go."

"What —?"

"I said no questions!" Rhydian said sharply. "Get up and come along! There's no time!"

Confused and tired, I dragged myself out of bed and pulled on my mantle and my boots. I took a step towards my anxious older brother, but he put his hand out in restraint. He took a long, cruel-looking dagger from his belt and shoved it into my hand.

My brow furrowed. "What—?"

"Just take it!" Rhydian ordered. "Now come on!"

He grabbed my wrist and ran down the corridor, and it abruptly hit me that we were finally running. Suddenly, he pushed himself and me against the wall and froze.

"What is it?"

"Shhhh!"

One of Mother's guards, a huge cyclopse, heavily trudged past us. We waited for what seemed like hours until the lead-footed steps faded into silence.

To make sure that the coast was clear, Rhydian slowly poked his head around the corner and watched for a second. Tightening his grip on my wrist, he flew out from behind the wall and pelted down the hallway, my short legs desperately trying to keep me from falling onto the icy ground.

Eventually, we made it to the courtyard. My other brother, Geraint, stared up and Rhydian and me with fear etched into his face.

"Don't move," he warned. "She's out there."

Rhydian temporarily ignored him and took a step forward. A quick gasp escaped his lips, and he threw himself back onto the wall of ice behind us, clamping his hand over my mouth and dragging me with him.

My heart was pounding. The only thing we could hear was our faint breathing and the row in the courtyard. Rhydian, summoning his courage, peered around the corner.

"Is that a prisoner?" he asked Geraint, who only nodded in response.

"… have mercy!" a voice that sounded like it belonged to a dwarf traveled to our ears. "I knew not!"

"Then your ignorance will be your downfall," another voice, my mother's, coldly replied. I had never heard her use a tone like that before, and it terrified me to the core. To this day it still scares me to think about it.

We heard another loud struggle and the unmistakable sound of Mother's scepter cutting through the air, followed by an unfamiliar noise that resembled rocks rolling down the side of a sheer cliff.

Rhydian gasped loudly and pushed himself back up against our wall. "She turned him to stone," he whispered, astonished and frightened. "She turned him to stone…"

Calling on my own courage, I poked my head around the corner. To my absolute horror, a perfect statue of a Red Dwarf stood motionless in front of Mother. My knees gave out from the weight of the fear that had crashed onto my shoulders. Rhydian's strong arm wrapped around my waist and kept me from falling.

I heard footsteps approaching, and my blood ran cold.

"Time to go," Rhydian said quickly, grabbing my wrist and flying in the other direction. Geraint was on our heels.

"Rhydian!" Geraint hissed. "This way!"

He pushed the stable door open and ushered us inside. There was a large gate at the far end of the breezeway that Geraint shot towards.

We heard more footsteps on the other side of the stable door and froze in our tracks. And a voice…

"Mother…" I whispered.

The door behind us swung open, and Geraint's eyes widened in fear.

"Come on!" he bellowed.

Rhydian was off like a shot again, barreling towards the open gate at full speed and fairly dragging me behind him. Kicking the gate shut behind him, Geraint followed us. I could see him loading the crossbow he had stolen and glancing over his shoulder to make sure we weren't being followed.

Finally, we made it to the forest and collapsed into the snow. Despite the bitter cold, all of us were red in the face and sweating from the run. We all fought to catch our breath; I was trembling.

"Well," Rhydian huffed after a while. "That went better than expected."

A smile stretched across Geraint's face, and out of sheer joy, we all started laughing.

All of a sudden, Rhydian fell silent and sprang to his feet, his blue eyes growing wide.

"What is it-?"

"_Shhhhhh!_" Rhydian hissed.

Silence.

Barking.

Howling.

Wolves.


	2. Wolves

Chapter 2: Wolves

I barely had time to feel the snow that Rhydian kicked up as he ran past me before Geraint pulled me to my feet and took off after him. The howls grew louder and closer together the farther we pushed into the forest. Sharp barks pierced our ears, every one sending a chill up my spine. Sheer terror seized my pounding heart. Before long, I could see grayish-brown streaks soaring though the brush beside us.

And when one of the wolves jumped out and cut off Rhydian, who came sliding to a stop, I screamed. Geraint tried to turn around, but more wolves sprang from behind the trees and stopped him.

We were surrounded.

With shaking hands, Rhydian scrambled for the crossbow he had strapped to his back and loaded it with a _click_.

"Put that down, boy," one of the Wolves growled. "You don't want to hurt anybody."

Rhydian opened his mouth to retort, but fear choked his words from his throat.

The Wolf chuckled. "Oh, come on," he taunted. "You and I both know you don't know how to use that thing."

Trembling violently, Rhydian voicelessly raised the crossbow to his shoulder.

"Your mother told me to tell you that you've got two options," the Wolf roughly informed us, pacing back and forth, his eyes not once leaving Rhydian's. "You can either come back and answer for your treason like a man, or you can die like a dog. Your choice."

Panic shot down to my feet in a hot, stinging streak, hissing at me, telling me to flee. But no matter how badly I wanted to run, Geraint's tight hand around my wrist kept me cemented in place.

The crossbow clicked. "You'll take me back when I'm dead," Rhydian answered sharply, though his words were seeped in terror.

The Wolf nodded, and one of the other wolves behind us snapped at Geraint's heel. He yelped; I shrieked. Pulling a short, dull sword from its sheath, Geraint pointed it at the wolf, who just snarled in response.

I could feel someone shaking, but I couldn't tell if it was me or Geraint.

We heard a hissing sound, followed by a muffled _thud_ and a loud yelp from the Wolf that had just threatened us.

Rhydian, bravely yet stupidly with his back to the first Wolf, reloaded his crossbow with quivering hands and declared, "Try to come at them again. I dare you."

"_Rhydian!_" I cried. Surely he had lost his senses!

But the clever gleam in his eye almost lead me to think otherwise.

Maurgrim, as my terrified mind had finally registered the first Wolf as, laughed cruelly. "You should listen to you sister, boy," he spat.

He continued to talk, but none of us were really listening to what he was saying. Rhydian had silently caught Geraint's attention, and I was busy trying to decipher what he was trying to converse. Quick glances their only form of safe communication, they silently began to formulate a plan. In my naivety, I anxiously looked back and forth between the two, wanting to know what was going on.

Geraint dropped my wrist and wiped the sweat off his jittering hands. An odd euphoria enveloped him as he slowly loaded his crossbow. They exchanged silent plans, brother to brother, until they had come up with what seemed to them like a good one.

"…and now that I've got you where I want you, you are all going to die." Maurgrim finished, looking smugly satisfied as he taunted us.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rhydian nod.

One arrow whizzed past my cheek and struck another one of the wolves. Then another. And another. One of the last wolves charged at me, but Geraint shot if down before it could touch me.

Rhydian wheeled around to face Maurgrim, but the Wolf had disappeared. For a moment, I thought that one of the boys might have shot him, but when a lone howl rose into the night, I knew that he had survived.

"We'd better get out of here," Rhydian said quickly. "Maurgrim will be back soon, and he'll have more with him next time, no doubt."

Geraint nodded. "Come along," he whispered, lovingly putting his arm around my shoulders and leading me on.

And with that, we slipped away into the night.


	3. Neophyte Magic

Chapter 3: Neophyte Magic

I do not remember much of the days that followed. There was running. And hunting. And cold. Terrible cold. We were exhausted, but Rhydian insisted that we push on. The boys, being a several years older and much stronger than I, persevered with ease.

I did not.

The snow had seeped through my boots and had nearly frozen my feet solid by the time we could see the river below us.

I could take it no longer. My knees gave out from under me, and I collapsed into the snow. Before long, I felt a strong pair of arms wrap around me and pull me close, and I shivered in their embrace.

"Come on, Renn," Geraint urged gently. "Just a bit longer."

"What's the hold up?" Rhydian asked anxiously.

Geraint hoisted me up onto his back. "We'll get to the bank and then we'll stop," he softly reassured me. "I promise." He turned to Rhydian. "Won't we?"

Rhydian sighed. "We really need to cross."

I felt Geraint nod in my direction. "She won't make it that far," he insisted. "I'm not sure she'll go any farther than this."

"Yes, she will. She's stronger than you think she is. Aren't you, Renn?"

"No," I whimpered.

"Well," Geraint said flatly. "There you have it."

Defeated and annoyed, Rhydian's shoulders slumped. "Fine, then," he huffed. "We'll stop when we're covered by the woods. I don't want to make camp out here in the open."

With that, Rhydian led us across a massive land bridge and into the forest on the other side. The moon was beginning to rise, and the stars were beginning to come out of hiding. The sky had turned purple on the horizon, growing steadily darker and darker until it faded into deep indigo at the top. Now I would have enjoyed the view, but then I was too exhausted to care.

Before long, I heard Rhydian dragging a few logs out of his pack to start a fire, and Geraint gently set me down in the snow. After spreading a wolf-skin blanket on the ground, he sat on top of it and pulled me into his arms. He was soaked to the bone with melted snow, and his lips were blue. We both shivered.

"Can't you get a fire going?" Geraint grumbled.

"I'm getting to that," Rhydian replied, exasperated. "Give me a second."

I heard Rhydian's heavy footfall trudging through the snow, followed by the sound of him going back through his pack.

"Oh, no," he sighed.

"What?" Geraint groaned, beginning to get impatient.

"I don't see the flint and steel. I might have left it back in the Lantern Waste…"

"No, you didn't," I moaned sarcastically.

"Yes, I did." He raked his hand through his blonde hair and sighed.

In muted horror, we stared at each other. Fresh snow began to fall, and I could see Rhydian shivering now, no matter how hard he tried to hide it.

"Well, I don't plan on freezing to death," Rhydian declared, "so I'm going to try one last thing before I completely give up."

With that, he picked up a log and headed back into the open.

Geraint's eyes widened. "Wait," he called. "Don't!"

We saw a bright orange flash, accompanied by a panicked wail. And before long, Rhydian came speeding back into the woods with the smoldering remains of what was once a piece of firewood. He set it down on top of the pile of dry branches and watched in dismay as it disintegrated into a dust of white ash.

"So _that's_ why Mother told us never to try that…" Rhydian mused. He laughed shamefacedly, and black soot covered his face. A little bit of smoke poured from the tips of his fingers.

Geraint sighed, annoyed. "And, of course, you'll not be the one to listen to her."

Rhydian glared at his younger brother. "Oh please," he retorted. "I'd like to see either of you do better."

Reaching for the woodpile, I grabbed two pieces of wood and started rubbing them together, eying Jadis's firstborn snidely. He rolled his eyes.

"Seriously?" Rhydian wailed.

Geraint snickered.

"This is getting us nowhere." Rhydian held out his hand. "Give it to me."

I recoiled, hugging the two sticks close to me.

"Come on, Renn," he said, putting his hands on his hips. "Hand it over."

Reluctantly, I held out one of the logs to him. A bit of the smoke that came out from underneath his fingernails streamed up my nose, and I coughed.

"Watch where you aim that," I gasped, smacking the top of his hand and quickly retracting my own and shoving it into the snow.

Had I only noticed that my brother's hands still smoldered like embers _before_ I tried to swat them away.

Suddenly, smoke began to pour from the piece of wood in Rhydian's hand, and he hastily dropped it into the woodpile. A tiny spark leapt from the center of the pile, and a small fire suddenly roared to life. Triumphantly, Rhydian sat in the snow opposite from me and Geraint, the light from the fire illuminating the smug grin that flashed across his face.

"And you _didn't_ set the entire forest on fire," Geraint good-naturedly mocked. "I was certain that you would."

Rhydian chuckled. "Sorry you didn't get your wish," he quipped, laughing out loud.

Smiling a little, I hugged my legs to my chest and rested my chin on top of my knees. I stared into the fire, grateful that it was finally there. Geraint's arm soon found its place across the bridge of my shoulders, and I leaned into him.

An apple soared over the fire and into the snow next to me. A little bit of steam rolled off the top of it. Trying not to burn my fingers, I carefully picked it up and looked at it.

Rhydian chuckled sheepishly. "I roasted it for you, Renn."

I eyed my brother and found him with his hands shoved in the snow. Thick streams of steam rolled up into the air on either side of him.

"Thank you?" I snickered.

Rhydian laughed.

After peeling the skin from it, I slowly began to eat the apple, and it, combined with the fire, warmed me to my toes. I finally began to feel better.

And after Rhydian "roasted" a few more apples for us (it took a while for his hands to cool down), we sat back contently and talked for hours. For the first time in years, we were finally at peace again.


End file.
